If I can come up with a fast to prepare and tasty dish, I'd like to cook something up tonight. Going out is my back up plan, but I was thinking about something involving chicken and tarragon; has anyone got any good recipes to suggest? I'm open to other suggestions too.

Location: I live in the Heartland of the United States - Western Kentucky

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You could saute your chicken pieces in a little olive oil with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and add some white wine or chicken broth and some tarragon. Simmer, covered, until the chicken is done. Juices run clear when pieces are pierced. Serve with rice and a green veggie or salad.

For another layer of flavor, you might want to add some minced shallots when you saute the chicken.

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When I do this I marinate my chicken in chicken broth, white wine, and fresh tarragon for the day. I cut the chicken in wide strips.

I then saute the chicken strips to somewhat caramelize then remove from pan. Use fresh chicken broth, white wine, and more fresh tarragon and heat to somewhat reduce. Use a cornstarch slurry and cook for 4 more minutes or so to thicken. Add chicken back and serve over linguine.

I normally also caramelize fat sliced button mushrooms.

More times than not I pair this with a blue cheese and pear salad with a simple red wine vinaigrette dressing.

Does it have to be chicken. There are a lot of other dishes that are fast. I love to bake a couple of whole fishes (tilapia or trout or whatever you like).

Wash the fish, place in an oven proof pan. Add chopped garlic, lots of chopped parsley, juice of two lemons and throw the lemons in the pan after squeezing the juice out for more flavor, salt, black pepper, chili flakes (if you like spicy food) and olive oil (one tbsp). Mix it all with the fish in the same pan. Add some baby carrots, quartered red potatoes and any other veggies you like in the same pan.

Roast at 350 degrees for an hour or until the fish and veggies are cooked.

Serve as an entree with a first course of a simple salad and some assorted breads.

Pollo Romano (Roman Chicken) is a very simple dish if you follow my recipe, which is similar to Mario Batali's recipe. If you, however, decide to use Giada Delaurentis' recipe, it tends to get over-complicated.

POLLO ROMANO

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 ounces pancetta, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 (16-ounce) can diced tomatoes and the juice

2 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips

2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips

Salt and pepper

In a 5 or 6 quart saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook slowly to render the fat. Remove all but 4 tablespoons of the fat-oil mixture from the pan and add the garlic and chicken, cooking until chicken and garlic begin to brown. Add the wine and cook 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and peppers, season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

If those would be chicken breasts, you have perect breed of elegance and familiarity in going with chicken stuffed with cheese and some pancetta if you want. As for the side, maybe is potatoes au gratin youre thinking of.

Some says that the king of slow cooked potatoes is salt encrusted ones. Get a pot, put in your washed potatoes skin on and loads of salt mixed with a little water. Pack it so that every surface is contact with the salt. And its gonna be a lot of salt. I think it calls for rock salt or sea salt. Then you put this pot in the oven to bake. This yields a moist and great tasting potato.